Spray machines are well known in the paint industry for spraying objects along assembly lines. Such devices are also used to prepare painted panels to serve as reference standards. Other panels are compared against such reference panels, and if there is a color or other quality discrepancy, the batch of paint under analysis via the test panel will be modified accordingly.
A typical spray machine uses a spray gun with drive means that are capable of being set to control horizontal and vertical movement of the gun and/or panels, as well as the speed of the gun. Other variables of the spray machine capable of being set include the number of passes of the gun (related to paint fan spray pattern of the gun), the flash period (to allow solvent evaporation), the width of the spray stroke, the number of coats of paint, and the like.